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Friday, July 30, 2010

The Chicago Manual of Style: ; ) Issues

So, last night Steph, Hot Stuff, and I were talking about the usage rules behind emoticons. You know, those little smiley or frowny faces you make with punctuation to let people know that you are, well, smiling or frowning along with what you're typing. They're like the picturades-version of "lol".

We decided it was high time there were usage rules for emoticons, contacted The Chicago Manual of Style, and are very, very pleased that our entry is making the next edition*.

EXPRESSIVE PUNCTUATION

6.99Emoticons. Expressive punctuation to denote happiness, friendliness, teasing, anger, or sadness is communicated using a variety of letters, numbers, and symbols. Although experts are still undecided on the inclusion of noses, for example :-) versus :) or even : ) (and the less common and far more polarizing use of the "bubble nose" such as :o) or the aggravatingly off-center :0) and their ilk), most agree that, used in the correct circumstances, emoticons are an acceptable substitute for more accurate and expressive language. These circumstances are only in the most informal of written communication. For example, within a blog post or an original tweet, an emoticon should never be used. The writer should be able to express themselves adequately without resorting to an angry face >: (. However, when responding to personalized tweets or comments on the blog post in question, an emoticon as emotional shorthand is perfectly acceptable.

The other day my downstairs neighbor made the trip up to inform me that my children's habit of walking on her ceiling was simply unacceptable. Needless to say, I was a little pissed off.

Note: no emoticons were necessary or appropriate in the post itself. But an acceptable comment would be:

Mean people suck : (

To which the original poster could then reply:

I know, right? ; )

The use of the "winking" face indicates that the commenter is no longer angry and has a playful sense of humor about the whole thing, and is much easier than saying, "I know, right? But don't worry, I am no longer angry and have a playful sense of humor about the whole thing now."

Note: Emoticons are especially useful when delivering short "thank you" tweets, making them seem friendlier and less formal. Emoticons are also highly valued when delivered in the margins of an editorially reviewed manuscript.

So there you have it. Usage rules for emoticons!

I know. You wish you could sleepover and my house, too! Tomorrow night I might write an entry on the most effective uses of "Dude."

And it took me reading your entry two or three times before I saw the part where it wasn't actually in the Chicago Manual of Style. I think the part where CMS was referencing twitter is what finally tipped me off....oh, and the asterix at the bottom. Ahem. <--Blonde.

Karli--The use of emoticons within parenthetical statements is acceptable unless they come at the very end, in which case it becomes confusing as to whether the end marking is to close the parenthetical statement or to complete the smile face, creating either disembodied (or rather, disem-mouthied) eyes or an incomplete statement.

Sorry, I should have made that clearer. I guess it'll have to wait for the next edition of the CSM.

Dude, I am sorry for your lame neighbors, one of the only things that I don't miss about being your neighbor. Soon you will be very rich and famous and you won't have to deal with the lovely folks at LCP anymore (I figure LCP is discreet enough so that none of your stalkers can find you). I can't wait to read your book and I am still bummed that I didn't get on you and read it before you went off and became a star!